Jutta Leerdam is candid about her eating problems: “I wanted to be perfect” | backbite

Skater Jutta Leerdam is open about her eating problem on the YouTube show Open the map. “I wanted to eat absolutely healthy food and be as skinny as possible.”

Leerdam, 24, admitted that she had an eating problem for three years, because she “went absolutely crazy” in wanting to eat healthy so she could exercise at her highest level.

“I brainwashed myself a lot. I only ate healthy and not much,” she tells YouTuber Robbert Rodenburg. “I got really skinny and it wasn’t good after that, because at a certain point I didn’t have any strength left.”

Eventually, this eating pattern took its toll during training camp. Leerdam was completely burned out and could no longer train. She also suffered from hair loss due to eating problems and stopped having her period for four years.

“They say it’s normal in sports, but it’s not really normal,” she says on the YouTube show. The skier now says she is happy with her body again and feels healthy.

However, Leerdam admits that she still struggles with her body image issues. “It always goes through my head that I’m so fat. Everyone around me knows it too, because I talk about it all day. That’s always going to be a thing.”